Sunday, May 01, 2011

This year’s Labor Day bears witness to the display of outrage by the Filipino workers and people over the Aquino regime’s refusal to grant a significant wage hike amidst rising prices of basic goods and services, and petroleum products especially.

It is an outrage directed at the hunger, poverty and oppression that have intensified over the reign of regimes which have all served big foreign capitalists and governments and the local ruling elite at the expense of the Filipino workers and people.

It is an outrage over the extreme exploitation and oppression of Filipino workers. The pressing down of wages, the rolling back of job security, the lack of jobs and livelihood, and attacks on trade-union rights have intensified through the years.

It is an outrage that seeks an immediate and genuine economic relief in the coming days, weeks and months. Band-aid solutions being offered by the Aquino regime will not dissipate this outrage but will only ignite it even further.

We vow that today’s big nationwide protests will lead to even bigger protests in the coming days, weeks and months throughout the country. We vow to translate our anger at the Aquino regime’s policies to collective action and struggle.

The targets of our continuing outrage are the unabated oil price hikes and overpricing of oil, the Aquino regime’s efforts to deny a significant wage hike through the regional wage boards, and cuts in subsidies to education and social services.

The Aquino regime should heed Labor Day’s warning signal. If it fails to act now to uphold the interests of the Filipino workers and people, it will face ever-growing protests and the possibility of being the target of an ouster movement.

On the occasion of the 125th international celebration of Labor Day, we express our solidarity with the workers and peoples of the world who are fighting the plunder and wars of aggression being carried out by US imperialism.

By calling our protest a “Day of Outrage,” we highlight our solidarity with the workers and peoples of the Middle East and North Africa who have defied repression and deceit to topple anti-people regimes and seek radical change for their societies.

With the workers and peoples of the world, we are seeking an end to neoliberal and pro-imperialist policies that have kept our country underdeveloped. We want an end to a system that has only enriched the few at the expense of the majority.

Even as we express our outrage, we are filled with hope as we witness the workers and people of the Philippines and the world stand up to their exploiters and oppressors to collectively and militantly say “Enough!” and to fight for change.